Permutation lock



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HIS ATTORN EYS JQajmomA. Cr e.

July 10, 1934. R. A. CRUSE PERMUTATION LOCK Filed May 25. v1932 July 10,1934.

R. A. CRUSE PERMUTATION LOCK Filed May 23. 1932L 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR HIS ATTORN EYS Patented July 10, 1934 "UNITED STATESP`A"l"ll`.Nl'`.l OFFICE y I 1,966,334' i PERMUTATION Loox` y .v Raymond*.Cruse, ASouth Allelrin, Ill. Applicatien May 23', 192.12, seriaiNg'.613,077 1 claim. (c1. 'l0-53) This invention relates to certain novelimfprovements in, permutation locks, and khas for its 1 principal objectthe' provision of anvimproved construction of this character which willbe 5 highly eilicient in use and economical in manufacture. i n

The invention herein described represents an improvement over thestructurey disclosedin my U. S.Patent No. 1,834,901, dated December 1,1931.` l Y Objects of therpresent invention are: to improve upon themeansshown in my said patent for securing the lock casing sectionstogether against unauthorized separation; to improve upon theconstruction ofthe tumblers shown in my aforesaiclpatent; to improveAupon the supporting member and sleeve lfor retaining the tumblers,carriers, and combination rings upon the core or supporting member; and.to improve generally upon the lock structure shown in my patenthereinbefore identified. y

' Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel Acombinar tion and arrangement ofparts to behereinafter described and claimed. -A y I:

The invention will be best understood by reference tothe accompanyingdrawings showing the preferred form of y construction, and in which:Fi'gf'l is an elevational View, partly` in section, illustrating a=typical use-of the invention;

Fig.l 2'is an elevationall view ofthe invention; FgLB' is a sectionalview on line 3"-3 in Fig. ,2; l Fig. Ll'isasectional"View online fl--4in FigQB; 35 .v lFig. 5 isas'ectional view onl line 5-,5 in'Fig. 3;v

Fig. 6 is ,asectional View online 6 6 in Figz Y.f 'Fig. '7 isa bottomplan view, partly infsection, onlinefZ-Tin Fig. 3;` l 1. Fig. 8 isaperspective View of` one of theim-A 40 Yproved lock casing, sections;`j' "1 i Fig. .9-is a perspective View of :the otheryof lthe improvedlock casing sections; l Fig. 10 is'aperspective viewof the improvedcorefor supIJOIlIlg member; y

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of th'e improved locking bolt; i l

Fig. 12 vis a perspective view .of one of the'vcoin' bination rings;v 'lf Fig. 13 is a perspective view of `one of they improved tumblers; Fig.-14 is a perspective View of one of the tumbler carriers;

Fg- 15 is a Perspective view of the improved s 5 5; retaining sleeve;

Fig.-16 is an elevational View illustrating another typical use of theinvention; and

Fig.s17 isa view on line 17-1'7 in Fig. 16, partly in elevation andpartly in section.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate a preferred form of theinvention, 10 generally indicates a cylindricallock casing which iscomposed of two complementary sections 11 and 12. Themeeting edgesv ofthese sections 11 and 12 are preferably undercut and overlap as at 13 tomake a tight joint between the sections.v .The section 12 has aninternal ange 14 at one end provided with notches'15, and the section 11has a ring portion V16 Vat one end provided with lugs 17 for dispositionin the notches. 15. Provided on the flange v14 are .lugs 59 which iit inrecesses 60 in the ring 16. f f

The; section 12 has a ring portion 17 near its other .end and thesection 11 has a ring portion 18 superimposed over the ring portion 17to close 75f one end of the casing when the sections are assembled; thesections 11 and 12 then being attached together by screws 20. Itwill benoted that the ring portions 1.7 and 18 have their confronting facesbeveled so as to facilitate the as- 8.0: sembling vof thesectionsvin-casing'formation, as shown in Fig.v 3, and `the assemblingis brought aboutby lshifting the sectionsfwith respect to each other. inparallel planes-in oppositerdirections for disposing the lugs in theirrespective 875:' recesses. v Aperturesv 21 are provided in the casingsection 11 for the passage Atherethrough of elements for fastening thecasing-10 to a support which maybe, for. example, the steering column 22of a vehicle. -The section Y12`has'a.v cut-out portion or window 23provided-therein.v`

- A substantially cylindrical supporting member *or core 24 is locatedinthecasing-l and this supporting member 24 has an annular head 25secured theretoby afset'screw 19. Extending axially 95 through thesupporting member 24isl a bore 26 andalso extending axially ofthesupporting member 24` is a slot 27 which opens inwardly into the bore26. TheY supporting member 24 is provided between its ends, onits'peripheral surface, with afseries of spaced annular grooves 28 andwith an axial groove 29fwhioh extendsparallel to the slot2v7..- if Anannulartumbler 30 (Fig. 13) is arranged in each groove28. Each of saidtumblers 30 consists of two intertting segments v31 and 32 and on thesegment 31 is av key 33. .Each tumbler 30 fits in an' annular'carrierl(Fig. 14) '.on.an internal harige ;"of the;carrier: Theicarrier :34holds the two segments 31 and 32 of the tumblerto:

gether and these carriers 34 encircle the supporting member 24. Providedon the flange 35 of each carrier 34 is a key 36 which ts in the groove29.

A combination ring 37 is placed over each tumbler 30 and carrier 34 andthesev rings 37 encircle the supporting member 24. Each of thesecombination rings 37 has on one of its faces a series of radiallyarrangednotches 38, any one of which is adapted to receive the key 33 onthe adjacent tumbler 30. Combination characters 39 are provided on theouter periphery oi each combination ring 37.

The tumblers 30 being made in segments can be readily placed in theannular grooves 28 in the supporting member 24 whereupon the carriers 34may be placed over the tumblers `to hold the tumblers in the grooves 28.The notches 38 in the combination rings 37 permit the rings 37 to belatched tothe tumblers 30 at different points so that the secretcombination of the lock may be changed when desired.

The tuinblers 30, carriers 34 and combination rings 37 are placed on thesupporting member 24 and a retaining sleeve 40 is then placed on one endof the supporting member 24 and secured thereto by a set screw 41 whichis arranged in a recess 3 in sleeve 40. The sleeve 40 thus` retains thetumblers 30, carriers 34, and combination rings 37 on the supportingmember 24.

The retaining sleeve 40 is provided with an internal key 42 which litsinto one end portion of the groove 29. A bearing lug 44 formed on theinner periphery of section 1l is disposed in the recess 43 in sleeve 4U.

A locking bolt 45 is passed through a hole 46 in the ring 16, throughthe bore 26 in the supporting member 24 and through registered holes 55and 47 in the rings 17 and 18. On one end of the locking bolt 45 is aknob or ngergrip 48. Provided in the bolt 45 is an axial slot 49 inwhich is disposed means in the form of a rack bar 50 to interlock withthe tumblers. A spring 51 in the slot 49 projects the teeth of rack bar50 into slot 27 of the supporting member 24. The rack bar 50 has endportions 51 which are connected to the bolt 45 by pin and slotconnections 52.

Each of the tumbler segments 31 is provided with a notch 53, and thetumblers may be posiiioned with these notches 53 registered with theslot 27 so that the teeth of the rack bar 50 may be slid through thenotches 53. However, by turning the tumblers 30 to a position in whichtheir notches 53 are out of registration with the slot 27 the sidewallsof the teeth of rack bar 50 will engage portions of the tumblers andprevent the locking bolt 45 from being moved to a retracted position.Even though the notches 53 of the tumblers 30 may be out of registrationwith the slot 27 the bolt 45 can still be projected into lockingposition since in this case the beveled teeth on the rack bar 50 willengage portions of the tumblers and cause the rack bar 50 to moveinwardly aganist the action of spring 51.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the bolt 45 may be moved toprojected or locking position irrespective of the position of thetumblers 30; but that in order to retract the bolt 45 into unlockingposition it is necessary that the tumblers 30 be so positioned thattheir notches 53 are registered with the slot 27. Thus it is necessaryfor one to know the proper combination of the characters 39 onthe'combination rings 37 before he can adjust the tumblers 30 tounlocking position. 'y

Fig. 2 shows the unlocking combination as consisting of the alignedcharacters HKWA and to facilitate aligning of these characters thecombination rings 37 are provided with parallel spaced lines 54.

The combination rings 37 may be easily turned by grasping those portionsthereof that are exposed through the window 23.

It is to be noted that by passing the locking bolt 45 through the holes46, 55 and 47 and by engaging the lugs and recesses 17-15 and 59-60, thetwo sections 11 and 12 of the casing 10 are latched together so that itis impossible to gain access to the interior of the casing 10 byremoving the screws 20.

The secret combination may be changed whenever desired by removing thesupporting mem- 'ber 24 from the casing 1o, then removing the Figs. 16and 17 show the lock used on a door il 56. In this case the locking bolt45 is projected through an aperture 57 in a keeper plate 58 attached tothe door 56.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form ofconstruction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable ofvariation and modification without departing from the spirit of theinvention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precisedetails of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of suchvariations and modications as come within thescope of the appendedclaim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

A permutation lock comprising a casing including complementary sectionshaving longitudinal overlapping edges, a ring portion providing the topwall of the casing and being integral with one section, a ring portionadjacent the corresponding end of the other section andiormed integraltherewith, said ring portions having ccn-Y fronting beveled faces andcentrally disposed registering holes, a ring portion having a centralhole therein and providing the bottom wall of the first named sectionand formed integral therewith, lugs formed on the periphery of the lastnamed ring portion and spaced from' theside edges of its section toprovide recesses, a flange formed integral with and following the innercurvature ofthe second named sectionat the lower end thereof and havingrecesses therein providing end lugs receivable in the 'first namedrecesses, with the first named lugs receivable in the second namedrecesses when the sections are shifted in parallel planes in oppositedirections for disposing the sections in casing formation, with thebeveled faces confronting, a core in the casing, a locking bolt slidablein and through the core and the holes of the ring portions, permutationlocking means on the coreV and bolt for securing the bolt fixed withinthe V,casing,a nd means including the permutation ,locking means forcooperation with the bolt and said lugs and recesses for fixing thesections in casingl forma- 1*5 tion.

RAYMOND A. CRUSE.

